Low-Hanging Fruit

What I learned: This section starts by introducing the general topic of health. It talks about health in third world countries and how it is obviously so poor, and increasingly poor. It talks about efforts to improve that health and why it doesn't get to who it needs to get to and help improve health. It came down to effectiveness, cost, and accessibility. Geography, latitude, and disease play large roles as well. (Tropic conditions are more likely to have higher rates of malaria because it's where the mosquitos thrive the best) Economic instability plays a large role as well. Malaria is very expensive to treat at such a large scale. (Low GDP leading to Malaria vs. Malaria leading to low GDP) The economic status of a country plays a large role in what advancements are able to be made. The next section talks about the relationship between malaria and income. The cause and effect relationship between the two. Because of poor economy, the malaria can't be treated or even slowed down. Because of malaria, the economy has a hard time with organization and spending money effectively (or even generating profit).The next section closely examines the effect that disease can have on ones income throughout their life. One who is riddled with (say malaria) at a young age statistically has a lower income throughout their entire life. Preventive care is then discussed. Preventive care is very expensive. It's then discussed why there's such a low demand for retaliation to these harsh diseases. One is that people maybe don't care about their health or the health of their children. The second reason is obviously economic. The third reason is lack of education or trust in their local health care agencies. It talks about whether to attempt changes (small or large scale) now or in the future. It talks of many pros and cons that come with each. No real solution is brought up.

How it relates: Of course, this is also very much relatable to Sudan and the topic that I wrote about in my World Food Prize paper. Firstly, this lesson briefly mentioned government, and the role that it plays. It was discussed that it seems as if health care should be an issue that is dealt with and handled with complete control by the government of a country, right? Wrong, of course. It is so often the case that the government in suffering countries is either so corrupt, uneducated, or unwilling, that no health care is successfully available. Sudan is no exception. Though she used the example of India, Sudan is very similar in the corruption and high rates of spending make health care an issue that isn't given any attention although it is one of the biggest problems facing that country and the world. Also, of course, the discussion of low economic status, geography, lack of direct citizen attention on health care, etc. all play huge roles in effecting the health status of the people in Sudan as well. That was clearly shown through my research.